Nonviolent Chauvinism

by Sascha Matuszak

On Saturday, air-raid
sirens rang out over Chengdu to commemorate 9/18, the day Japanese troops
began their invasion of the Chinese mainland in 1931. The festivities included
a mini-marathon from the city's south side to the central plaza and then to
the stadium for a celebration of traditional Chinese culture – mostly young
girls and boys dancing and performing Wu Shu.

The locals cracked a few jokes about short Japanese devils and the government-sponsored
"Concert for the Peasants" that was attended by hundreds of marching chanting
soldiers and police officers, then went about their business. Ito Yokado, a
Japanese department store, had one of its two Chengdu outlets – the one in the
city center – subjected to a huge video presentation of Japanese atrocities
during the 1930s and 40s, but the place was still bustling.

Hating the Japanese is taken for granted in China and is but a part of the
patriotism that helps to bind this vast, populous nation together. Western media
has covered the rising nationalism in China and opinions vary on whether or
not this nationalism will translate into American-style "interventionism" at
some point in the future, but for a majority of Chinese, loving the country
is a peaceful endeavor that has more to do with getting rich and reclaiming
that which was once China while maintaining a stable society.

For westerners, threatening Taiwan with missiles and invasion and the PLA's
evident
thirst for a glorious liberation of the island, Beijing's handling of the
Hong
Kong elections and disputes with Japan and several Southeast Asian nations
over islands in the Pacific are signs of an iron fist lurking behind a money-making
mask. All it would take is for the U.S. to falter and for China to emerge as
a superpower, reckon some, for China's peaceful nationalism to be replaced with
the swagger that comes with power and influence.

A Government Tool?

China's record-breakingshowing
in the Athens Olympics was a golden chance for the media and the government
to spread more aiguo (love the country) sentiment throughout the land.
Chinese athletes took golds in the traditionally Chinese dominated events, such
as ping pong, badminton and diving – but the big winner and the man who has
made serious money (200,000RMB by some estimates) is runner Liu Xiang, who won
gold in the 110 meter hurdles.

Chinese commentators and coaches gushed over his surprise performance over
"naturally faster" black athletes. Detailed discussions concerning the muscular
structure of blacks and Asians – something that could get a man banned from
sports for life in the States – were meant to increase the pride of the average
Chinese by emphasizing the rise of China and the ability and potential of a
land of 1.3+ billion.

TV viewers were treated to never-ending reruns of Chinese victories, past and
present, while a steady eye was kept on the medal count – especially during
the first few days when China led the world in numbers of medals won. The Chinese
media mentioned over and over that the tickets for the gold
medalists' trip to Hong Kong were sold out, showing that Hong Kong locals
love China as much as the Mainlanders do, no matter how many times they take
to the streets. Patriotic fervor during the Olympics is commonplace in all countries
– why would so much attention be focused on China's treatment of its athletes,
especially their trip to Hong Kong?

Basically, 1.3 billion Chinese bursting with patriotic emotion seems a bit
more threatening than a few million Latvians or Chileans taking to the streets
with flags, honking their car horns.

Government-controlled media regularly spit out propaganda that seems to have
the sole purpose of binding China into one solid entity, a rock against the
world. Chinese
schools are brainwashing laboratories.

This can be seen as a direct result of days like 9/18 and the carnage that
followed, and the even earlier "Eight Nation Group" that took Hong Kong from
China to begin with. Movies here in China depict evil, bearded white people
mercilessly raping and pillaging while bands of under-equipped but brave as
hell Chinese struggle against all odds to save Mother China. Chinese media tend
to be sober about Sino-Japanese
relations, unless Japan "offends" the Chinese people in some way
or another.

In China, nationalism is equated with virtuous hero-poets defending the nation
against invaders from the seas. The government most definitely propagates this
view for its own purposes, namely retaining power in the land, but to assume
that nationalism is but a tool of the government is to assume that all Chinese
are fools.

A Vision of Greatness

Nationalism in the West is equated with wars and
death, but this vision doesn't seem to phase many Chinese, who believe in their
hearts that China will never use its strength to impose on others as nationalistic
nations have done in the past.

Chinese refer to history to defend this vision of themselves. During the heyday
of old China, generally believed to be the Tang dynasty, China's wars were supposedly
confined to small border battles with Uighurs and Tibetans in the West and the
occasional "interventions" in Korea against, surprise, invading Japanese. The
actual details of the Tang dynasty's wars in the West and the Northeast should
be left to historians, but the people here view that period as a time of cultural,
economic and technological superiority – a time when Buddha lived in the hearts
of men and in the stones they carved and caravans from all eight directions
came laden with voluntary tribute and trade, eager students and awestruck travelers.

It is this vision of themselves that most inspires Chinese – and foreigners!

A strong man is admired and respected – look at the modern depiction of Qin
Shi Huang in the film Hero – but Hero is a flash in the pan compared
with books like The Story
of the Three Kingdoms, or the histories of that period written by Sima
Qian. These stories are not only read by all Chinese, but they appear on various
TV channels almost every day.

The strong powerful ruler in these stories never rules for long. It is the
clever, wise negotiator, the well-learned philosopher, the man behind the throne
who gains legendary status. Virtually all successful generals who get ahead
of themselves die by the sword in traditional Chinese stories. In these stories,
cultural and intellectual influence, not the sword, win the day. For China-watchers
in the West and for many Chinese, this vision of a future China fits in splendidly
with the rest of the world.

Peaceful Handover = Peaceful Rise?

Monday's papers had the picture of Jiang and Hu
smiling and shaking hands for the camera. This "unprecedented" development
in the Jiang-Hu rivalry was a masterstroke in the face of international and
domestic scrutiny of Jiang's further ambitions. Hu mentioned in this
article that the Party's rule over the military must contain no ambiguities:
the "three-in-one " rule over the entire nation mirrors the Emperors
of the past and is considered by many Mainlanders as the only acceptable option
for stability and development in China.

Hu is considered by outsiders to be the moderate, reform-minded internationalist,
while Jiang is the Communist-era holdover who tends to speak either in vague
riddles (the Three Represents) or in iron-hard terms through his tight grip
on the media – Strategy and Management in particular, which nevertheless
managed to slip in a rhetoric-less, sober analysis of the North Korean situation
recently.

The media around the world have turned this struggle into a black and white
struggle between an ex-Communist who gained power by crushing dissent in Shanghai
during the spring of 1989 and who represents the scary nationalistic Emperor
who may eventually become aggressive, and the quiet, inconspicuous moderate
who will guide the nation further toward the eventual goal of Tang Dynasty-esque
greatness.

Emperor Hu has his work cut out for him, especially with "Regent"
Jiang's network of influential friends and powerful people still holding onto
their positions of strength.

Chinese nationalism may be stifling to many foreigners who live and work in
China, but if this nation can remember and reinvent the glorious past it loves
to bring up when dealing with the outside world, then this current brand of
nationalism, which smacks a bit of insecurity and tends to lead to fights on
the football field here in Chengdu, will progress as the rest of China has toward
the comfortable nonviolent chauvinism that ancient China was famous for.